Coffee Methods: The Costa Rican Chorreador

Last week we talked about the most popular methods for coffee brewing at home. We received several more recommendations from readers, including this one from reader Erin of Gringuitica. Erin lives in Costa Rica, and she told us that the chorreador is a simple coffee maker that is in daily use in most Costa Rican homes. She sent us a photo of her own chorreador, the beautiful rosewood model above.

It's a traditional way of preparing coffee. Very finely ground coffee goes into the cloth filter and then hot water is dripped through. The filter is washed and dried between each use, and a lot of care goes into making coffee with this traditional tool.

Faith is executive editor of The Kitchn and author of three cookbooks, including the James Beard Award-winning The Kitchn Cookbook, coauthored with Sara Kate Gillingham, as well as Bakeless Sweets. She lives in Columbus, Ohio with her husband Mike.